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Roman around

27th February 1976
Page 19
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Page 19, 27th February 1976 — Roman around
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

WHAT'S in a name? Well, when it comes to the names MAN and Roman the difference Is worth quite a lot—a couple of thousand pounds in fact.

Built under licence in Romania, the Roman range of trucks now being sold in Britain are MANs in almost all but country of origin. However, lower labour costs and a better exchange rate makes them considerably cheaper than their West German counterparts.

They are being imported into this country by MAN GB Ltd and that is going to make for an interesting spare parts situation. For many of the components, mainly connected with the cab, are identical to those found on MAN trucks available here.

And the Roman parts are much cheaper, Which means that many operators could soon be trying out Roman parts— particularly for the heavier vehicles—on their MAN fleets. It's all perfectly feasible from an engineering point of view, but the dealers warn that any mixing of the two is liable to invalidate the warranty.

The Roman range was described in CM in detail last week and since then I have had a chance to give the 12-ton model a short test drive.

Obviously, the truck looks like a MAN in many ways and this is especially true inside the cab. The steering-column gearchange and the near vertical instrument panel are retained along with the umbrella-type park brake control.

The instrument panel has a strangely vintage look about it with the large chrome surounds of the dials being reminiscent of a large Austin Seven. As well as dials representing the usual functions a large idiot light is included in the panel although, surprisingly, there is no simultaneous audible warning of a system malfunction.

A radiator blind is a standard component on the Roman operated via a chain to the right of the steering column. Mindful of the bad old days when radiators were blanked off to increase the output from the heater to the detriment of cylinder heads and gaskets, the MAN engineers are thinking of adding a warning light to remind the driver that the blind is in use. The output from the heater was certainly satisfactory on the very cold day I drove the Roman.

I drove the truck in question in chassis-cab form as it had only been in England a few days so there was little point in recording any performance figures. The lightest of the Roman range has the fivespeed ZF gearbox with the reverse slot occupying the position normally used for first gear on the already familiar 38-tonne MAN models. In the unladen state, second gear was more than capable for starting from rest.

Exhaust note

The first thing that struck me about the Roman was the peculiar exhaust note—it sounded more like a petrol engine from inside the cab although externally the usual diesel knocks were present. Most of the noise in the cab, which at no time became excessive, seemed to be due to the exhaust. Although the mechanical noise of the engine could be heard, it was almost masked by the exhaust note.

The 797-05 engine used in the Roman has the relatively high maximum engine speed of 3000rpin where 100kW (135 bhp) is produced. This specification is very similar to that of the International Harvester engine used in the Seddon Atkinson 200 Series 16-tonner. It certainly seemed to be a very flexible unit when I drove it although once again the unladen state of the truck has to be taken into consideration.

The steering column gearchange was easy to use with a precise action although I still find with this system that the positions away from the driver (with this box, second and fourth) are a fairly long stretch for someone of average build.

The air/hydraulic braking system was smooth in operation and, for once, I found that the exhaust brake was extremely effective even at low engine speeds. The siting of the exhaust brake button at the base of the steering column is a vast improvement over the usual position almost under the seat.

The steering, a ZF design built under licence in Romania, was extremely light to use. But as it had very little self-centering effect it was necessary to steer out of a corner as well as into it. Allowing the wheel to come back to the dead ahead position on its own was not to be recommended.

One detail improvement which has been made in the cab interior is the provision of an extension cord to the sun visor release. In its previous form, the release switch was situated out of the driver's reach, being a hangover from the left-hand drive versions. Now the driver can release the blind without stretching across to the middle of the cab.

This sensible planning has been carried over to the radio siting (a standard feature of the Roman range) which is well Out of comfortable arm's reach from the driving seat. The seat is smaller than the type fitted to the heavy MANs but is still adjustable in all the usual directions and the steps and grab handles make it an easy vehicle to get in and out of.

The tilt mechanism of the Roman cab is a manual type with no hydraulic assistance and one can can tilt the cab in seconds. There is a safety catch behind the driver's seat which must be released before the big locking handle behind the cab can be used. The normal angle of tilt is 45° for routine maintenance although this can be increased to 600 for major overhaul if a buffer piece in the stop linkage is removed.

On the Roman, the cab needs to be tilted before the oil and water levels can be checked. The lifting panel at the front of the truck allows access to the washer bottle and the fuse box.

The accessibility of the Roman from the maintenance point of view seemed good although I query the wisdom of having to tilt the cab before daily level checking can be carried out. The reaction of operators to the back-axle design will be interesting as it is not the usual banjo casing enclosing the gears. Instead, the rear axle looks more like a typical I-beam front axle with the differential unit and final drive bolted on at the back.

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People: Austin Seven

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